You may know Jessica Schroeder, fashion blogger behind the site What I Wore, for her thrifty, feminine wardrobe and mad collection of tights, but girl’s got mad chops when it comes to creating super cheap costumes, too. All this week on her blog, she’s featuring daily Halloween costume ideas created almost entirely for free with everyday items she (and probably you!) already owns. Yesterday, she posted pictures of herself as a very convincing Frida Kahlo along with a list of what she wore (this entire costume was pulled from stuff in her closet). Today, she dressed as George Washington — her most expensive costume of the week at $1.79! — and included a how-to guide for creating Washingtonian hair and makeup. Be sure to check her site the rest of the week for more super cheap, homemade Halloween costumes ideas. 

Nobody will accuse you of noise pollution with these eco-friendly DIY speakers. Emo and pop music fans have reason to rejoice! They can now liberate themselves from defiling their new Converse sneakers and move on to speaker sets. They’re portable and fun, and made of 70 percent recycled materials. [$18, Urban Outfitters]

Plain old gold and silver are simply not bright enough for product designer Alison Lewis. She prefers that her jewelry has a near-blinding quality to it and, thus, she relies on LED lights. We were a bit skeptical about the uber-light that adorns most of Alison’s work, from paintings to pillows and pretty much everything in between. But her glowing LED necklace is definitely growing on us. It satisfies our dual interest in cool accessories and semi-closeted dorkiness, which can be a big challenge. Few and far between are the crafty ladies who dig tech and fashion. For being one of them, we salute you, Alison. [The New York Times]

We’ve talked a whole lot about do-it-yourself projects here at The Frisky—DIY haircuts, DIY Botox, DIY sex toys—and mostly we’ve come to the general conclusion that anything that goes in or is slathered on your body should never be a DIY. (Unless you’re using natural crap, like berries or honey or whatever.) News from the Daily Mail, though, has over 2,000 women on a Harrods waiting list for an at-home facelift kit (it just went on sale). Say what?!

Your guests are on the way, you’ve got four things bubbling on the stove top, and when you go to grab some dressing from the fridge for the salad, which you so wisely prepped earlier, your standard bottle of vinaigrette or whatever is empty. How to save the night!? After the jump, directions on how to whip up a delicious, 30-second dressing you can make without having to run to the store.

This weekend, I spent an embarrassing amount of time online trolling through photos of other people’s homes looking for inspiration—and another excuse to repaint or reupholster or re-anything my own apartment—and I happened upon this photo. I immediately zeroed in on their side tables and realized that they’re actually file folder cabinets! They’re the perfect storage solution (to go all “Container Store” lingo on you) for a tight living room—all you need is a little DIY love to make them work. Pick up a can of spray paint (I’m always a fan of color, bypass the blah whites and beige paints), and spray over the usually grim-looking, office-y finish. Throw a lamp on top and—voila!—you’ve got yourself tables with loads space to hide, well, whatever it is you don’t want people seeing. [Apartment Therapy]

Sometimes inspiration comes when you’re not looking for it. In some of our random fashion browsing on the Internet, when we were looking for clothing-related posts, we found ourselves completely ignoring the goods on the page and were instead entranced by these models’ hairstyles. The styling on each is perhaps perfect—braids complimented by Grecian and knotted accessories. Here’s how to get these two innovative ‘dos…

If you’re like us, you’re no closer to owning a piece of haute couture than you are, say, walking on the moon. But while hand-sewn $50,000 jackets may be a bit out of grasp, certain couture details are actually well within range. One of our favorites is the hair ribbon hair style we spied at French couturier Alexis Mabille’s recent Paris show. Rather than going same-old with a standard bow, Mabille tied long, almost ankle-length ribbons into the models’ hair and let them hang free. (You can sort of see it here, the end peaking out from behind her calf).

Given that getting around town could be, well, a tad hazardous with five feet of ribbon trailing behind you, we’ve modified the look a bit and made it incredibly easy to do. We break it down, after the jump.

Yikes! A 54-year-old Californian mother of three booked an appointment with a plastic surgeon to have some work done. But when she found out how many Benjamins she’d have to lay down, she did what every thrifty American would do. (NOT!) She went online, bought a $10 vial of liquid silicone, and injected it into her own lips and cheeks. She is—shocker!—not so pleased with her new face.

This would seem to be the product of a 13-year-old boy experimenting with origami. Or just someone who realized that the web would go crazy over a piece of paper that’s cut to look like a lady’s butt. Either way, rad. [LikeCool.com]

Certain areas of NYC, like Canal Street and any street corner where a sheet can be unfurled and then snatched up quickly , are dedicated to selling knockoff designer wares. But there’s an even cheaper way to get a “designer” purse—all you need is a steady hand, a brown paper bag, a Sharpee, and a thin link chain. That’s how the above Chanel-inspired handbag was created. What makes this tongue-in-cheek knockoff even better is that the Double Cs logo isn’t perfect—so there, Karl Lagerfeld! Now if only someone would tell me how to create a DIY Hermes Birkin and my accessories closet could be complete. [Jak & Jil via Fashion Copious]

We used to have neighbors who were big fans of game hunting. As a testament to their deep dedication to the slaughtering of large animals, their entire sitting room was plastered in mounted animal heads. It was terrifying. The sort of terrifying that makes you wary to knock on their door when you’re selling gift wrap or Girl Scout cookies. Little did we know as we quaked in our Catholic school uniform, hand poised over their boar head knocker, that we were a mere decade away from having a mounted animal head in our own sitting room.

But while their heads were fuzzy and bug-eyed and kind of made us cry, ours is smooth and non-intimidating. This, of course, is because it didn’t come from an animal so much as a tree. Nonetheless, our cardboard deer head is a hell of a lot cooler than their real animal heads, even if we didn’t actually kill it ourselves. The heads come in colors like natural cardboard brown, white, and camo if you’re feeling really adventurous. We spray painted ours bright red for added badassness though. [$52, Cardboard Safari]

I’ve been a little obsessed with the Doodle Bra since we did a post about it way back in March. And now, finally, mine arrived at the office a couple days ago after weeks of waiting. Oh, the intricate fantasies I had about all the ways my life would improve when the color-and-wash bra arrived and we became inseparable.

I remember the days when manicures were fun. More often now, it seems like a burden and an expense when I look at my hands and go, Ugh, I need a manicure so bad. So, when browsing the drug store the other day, I was tempted by this package of nail gems by Fing’rs (creepiest name ever). Pretty certain that I am the worst manicurist ever, I doubted that I’d be able to pull of the creation, but I found it shockingly simple. To make things easier on yourself, pre-select the gems you want to use, spreading them out on a piece of paper. Work up a thick coat of polish; apply the first coat, let dry for a minute, then apply a second coat, allowing it to set up for about 30 seconds. Using a tweezer, drop your designs into place and maneuver them using the wooden stick provided or the tips of your tweezers. This part is surprisingly forgivable because the thick polish lets you push the jewel into place without messing up the entire nail. Once you’ve got your nail art in place, cover it with several thick coats of clear nail polish. After the jump, a few of my decorative ideas. [Fing’rs]

Dear Brides and Bride-to-be,

Seriously, has it really come to this? Are some of you actually growing your own salads for your wedding receptions now? And if you aren’t, the Telegraph thinks you should. In a series called “Grow Your Own Wedding,” it published an article today that laid out what to sow and grow and mix together, from “Ruben Lettuce,” to I s**t you not, fennel bulbs, to create your own perfect wedding day salad. All I can say is thank God I’m keeping my engagement short and getting married next month because I don’t think I could possibly stand another half a year of this silliness. Everywhere I turn to for ideas or advice, I’m completely inundated with this DIY crap. Look, I get that it can be fun to get all crafty and put your own personal stamp on your BIG, SPECIAL DAY, but I have to draw the line at lining my RSVP envelopes and growing my own fennel, and maybe you should to.

Yes! I’ve been waiting for this! Botox sounds like something I could totally do myself, and this DIY Botox kit on eBay comes with a map that shows you where to inject.

Just mix the “Botox powder” with the saline solution, and for $95 I can poke needles into my skin in the comfort of my own bathroom without having to schlep all the way to a plastic surgeon’s office to deal with medical professionals and sterilization. Don’t even try to outbid me. [Daily Mail U.K.]

This is the first Valentine’s Day my beloved and I will spend together and I want to make him something COOL. I found these homemade easy-sew cards at The Purl Bee. Even if you can barely thread a needle, you could make these sweetie pie notes—the genius is that even if you totally mess up, it will just look sloppily cute.

If you are just plain allergic to needle and thread, you can buy these insanely cute iron-on animal love patches from Etsy, and press them on your homemade card. For the more daring, instructions for the cute-as-hell cards after the jump….

Looking to make your cell of an apartment a little less depressing without pissing off your crotchety landlord? Painting your blues away will also mean kissing your deposit good bye and those N’Sync posters are kind of unacceptable at this point. So what’s a budget-conscious girl to do?

Though the options outside of boy bands and large scale art are admittedly slim, check out Kate’s Paperie or Papyrus for vintage-looking wrapping paper sheets worthy of framing. Blown up maps and post cards, old school anatomy textbook images and embarrassing ‘70s yearbook pictures are looking for a home at less than $4.50 a pop.

Slide the poster-sized sheets into cheap as hell frames from A.I. Friedman and just wait for your friends to jealously ask where you got your new art. Be sure to tell them it’s from a gallery in SoHo or Paris. Feeling just a tad superior is half the fun.

Fall is finally here and our girls at Glam.com think it’s time to try out those sizzling looks we saw on the catwalk in February. From bare-faced skin and soft blush to cat eyes and red lips–which one works for you?

1. Bare, Dewy Skin: On the Burberry Prorsum and Alexander McQueen catwalks, fresh-faced models strutted their stuff, proving that less is more when it comes to fashion. Their au naturel look gave them a soft touch when paired against bold apparel.
DIY: Mix a bit of illuminator with your daily moisturizer and apply with your fingertips. Dab on a little bit of concealer where needed, plus a touch of lip.

Maybe you’re broke as a joke, maybe you live in the no sex toy sales state of Alabama, maybe you’re just a crafty bitch—but no matter what the reason, you can DIY your own dildo! If our list of household sex toys wasn’t enough, according to Alix Shedd of The Indypendent, using simple items you’ll find at your hardware store, you can tailor your own personal sex toy. Hey, if you build it, they will come!  So here’s how to step up your self-love life in five simple steps…